And – I promised you photos of the city of York, England all dressed up for the holidays, so let’s rock and roll!

Christmas festival in York City Centre. Is it just me, or does that little boy look alarmed by Santa over there?

Towards the end of my first semester as a research Masters student at the University of York, I began to feel like maybe this degree wasn’t for me. As final exams and Christmastime drew near, I knew I had to make a decision.

After a lot of solitary, meditative walks around the historic districts of York, England, I decided to withdraw from the research program and go home.

I know. Not exactly the heroic ending people are looking to hear, right?

It was a difficult decision, and one that I made with a certain amount of sadness. I loved living in York. It’s such a beautiful city, filled with history, medieval architecture, and killer food.

And it was hard to admit to myself, and to all the people who had supported my move across the ocean, that I had been wrong. But I knew going home was right for me.

Random ice sculptures were placed around the city during the holiday festivals. York does not mess around when it comes to holiday celebrations!

Even though I was fascinated by acupuncture research, I knew I wasn’t likely to pursue it as a career after graduation. I just couldn’t justify the extra debt and time to complete a degree I didn’t feel confident I would use.

Well, you officially know it’s Christmas when there are Christmas trees mounted on the outside of buildings. Wait, what?

I was ready to go home, live with my parents, and start a business from scratch, running an acupuncture office in Rochester, NY. It doesn’t sound glamorous, but it was what I craved, and where I felt I should be.

Seriously though. The food, you guys. These holiday festivals in city centre were the bomb!

My flatmates helped me pack my England life into two huge suitcases, and I was prepared to go home after submitting my final papers. After one last midnight walk around campus with my friends (which included a visit to the library to return our favorite movie, Love Actually), and a sad 4:00am sendoff, I boarded my flight and was home in time for Christmas.

Before leaving England, I had found an ad on Craiglist for a wellness center in Rochester that was looking for an acupuncturist to join them. Once I got back to the states, I met with the owner of the wellness center, and they offered me the opportunity to rent space with them starting January first. Before I knew it, I was in business!

Christmas in York – literally a feast for the eyeballs.

I’ve never considered my time in England a mistake. Are you kidding? It was the trip of a lifetime! Even though I only spent one semester studying research, I learned an incredible amount in a short period. I got to meet and work with some of the best acupuncture researchers in the world.

Is your stomach singing Christmas carols right now? “Joy to the world, the cookies have come!” Wait, that’t not the words?

I learned what it really takes to put together a high-quality acupuncture research study:

Tons of planning, patience, plenty of number crunching, creative thinking, and of course, critical thinking and quality control at every corner. I have so much respect for the people who orchestrate research.

Cupcake me, pretty please.

This experience also made clear to me that I’m obsessed with learning and being in an academic environment. After my acupuncture Masters degree, I simply wasn’t ready to leave and finally be done with school. Because of that, I decided to pursue something without critically assessing whether it would be useful to me in terms of the career choices I ultimately wanted to pursue.

How adorable, “old-timey” and delicious is a man selling hot chestnuts in the street?!

I was banking on the idea that education is, in and of itself, a valuable enough reason to move across an ocean, take out more student loans, and postpone starting my own business.

I do think that education is one of the most valuable things we can attain, and that it has immense value on its own. Because whether or not we use our education in a practical sense, it still shapes us and makes us who we are.

The department store holiday displays were constantly in competition with one another. Who could be more stylish, more festive, more fabulous? This one is Marks & Spencer.

But these things have to be balanced with the ultimate outcome. I had already had so much education, but hadn’t taken the proper time to use it and see where my first Masters degree could take me.

As for living in York – it goes without saying that it was remarkable. The way I connected with the city has not diminished over the years.

Now that I’ve had four years to assess the experience, what makes me feel like it was still worth every second? What can I say that I learned?

Big Lessons:

1. That even when we make an “imperfect” choice, that doesn’t mean it was the wrong choice. We learn from each step we take.

2. That education has value in and of itself, because it shapes us in ways we could never have imagined.

3. That acupuncture research (like all research) is complex, multifaceted, and requires sincere dedication.

4. That friends made in a short time can still be friends years later. I made friends that I still keep in touch with and hope to visit again someday, wherever they end up living in the world.

5. That certain places have a magical quality about them that sweeps you away, for reasons that are hard to define. But when you find a place that dazzles you, cherish it. For me, clearly, this is York.

Personal Lessons:

1. That being an advocate for studying abroad will always be a passion in my life.

2. That I love learning and the unique environment that universities create. This eventually led to the revelation that I should work in higher education, to be immersed in it every day.

3. That I have the capacity and flexibility to adapt to graduate school and a different style of learning in another country. Remembering this gives me confidence when I’m feeling uncertain of myself.

More Christmas trees mounted on the outside of buildings. I swear, it’s like this happened overnight, all over the city. Who installed them? Very tall elves?

Four years later, I still regularly dream of returning to York. Just to walk those streets again, in sunshine or snow, would make me batsh*t crazy happy!

And I still want to get another degree. I’ve realized that will never, ever change. I may never be content to stop learning, to stop pursuing the dream of more and more education. I think I might be one of those irritating life-long learners.

More Christmas schwag, in one of my favorite parts of town. The York Minster Cathedral is just behind me, around the corner.

But now, after spending time thinking about what I really love to spend my time doing, I know that if I pursue another degree, it would probably be an Masters of Business Administration (MBA).

I learned from my time running an acupuncture practice that I love management, administration, and marketing. Weird, right? I know. If I had taken the time to get to know myself (i.e., given myself a little more time to grow up) before diving into another degree, I might have gone to England to pursue the right degree, one that I would finish and be excited to use in my future.

One last shot of the gorgeous wreathes hung all over the city. Please excuse the two awkward-looking people who clearly felt uncomfortable having their photo taken by a stranger…

From this experience, I ultimate lesson that I carry with me is that it’s okay to change your mind and to make what might originally be interpreted as a mistake. Because ultimately, what you learn from those experiences shapes who you are, how you see the world, and how you move forward. And when is that kind of introspection and growth ever really a mistake?

Looking into studying acupuncture research abroad at the University of York? Check out these awesome resources, and feel free to contact me with questions!

Reader Interactions

Comments

I totally agree with you. There are so many opportunities that present themselves to us in life and we’ll never know what path they may lead to unless we keep our options open. I’m glad to hear that you took a chance to go study in York because you learned so many valuable lessons from that experience 🙂 Absolutely love the pictures, it looks beautiful there.

Thanks Kelly! I totally agree. Making mistakes and taking (not crazy) risks is a great way to grow as a person, even if it’s hard at the time. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can go back to York next year and take more fun pictures! The city is so beautiful.